Dirigible headlights.



J. L. CROOKER.

DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHTS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I3. 1914.

1,173,649. Pdtented Feb. 29, 1916.

\x v v J I, 1 3? we t v =1 E 6; 1-" E 2 2 x d ra 8 WITNESSES:

iornrern'nn nnannren'rs.

Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Feb. 29. that Application filed April 13, 1914. Serial No;831,558.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, JOHN L. Cnoorrnn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boise, in the county of Ada, State of Idaho, have inventednew and useful Dirigible Headlights for Automobiles, of which thefollowing is a specification. X

My invention relates to improvements in adjusting the headlights onautomobiles by which the light from the headlights "falls directly inthe path" of the front wheels of the automobile regardless of thedirection in which the automobile may be traveling, and the objects ofmy improvements are: First: To provide a convenient and strong mechanismto automatically adjust headlights on will revolve from right to leftand vice versa to accord with the direction the automobile is traveling.Second: To reduce the friction of the. dirigible headlights in orderthat said headlights may be adjusted without interfering with theoperation of the steering rod of the automobile and at the same timeprovide a mechanism to respond to the action of the steering rod andalso to the changing position of the springs of the automobile. I attainthese objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawingin which- I Figure 1 is a top view of the front part of the automobilestripped. showing the dirigible headlights in position. Fig. 2 is theconnection of the bar of the dirigible headlights with the steering rodof the automobile. Fig. 3 is a part front view of the dirigibleheadlights connected with the automobile. Fig. 4 is the connecting armofthe dirigible headlights with the automobile lamp holder. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal section through the center of the head of the connecting arm.Fig. 6 is an end view of the center connecting piece. a horizontallongitudinal section through the center of the said connecting piece.Fig. 8 is a top view of the'bracket carrying the lamp frame. Fig. 9 is aview and a section of the stop ring indicated by a dotted line on Fig.6. Fig. 10 is a front view of the main rod A. I

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The connecting bar G, the center piece B, two main rods A, two end peces C, two circular pieces F, the two arms D, the pivot automobiles sothat the headlights Fig. 7 is i E connected with the frame that holdsthe lamps in the bracket constitute the frame work of the mechanism.

The two main rods A consist of rods of sufficient length when connectedwith B and C to reach just beyond the outer edge of the front springs ofan automobile, see Fig. (1. In Fig. 10 l have shown the rods A as havinga threaded end and aball provided on the opposite end. The center pieceB (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 7) is a short piece with a. socket S (see Fig. 7)in each end, the inside of said sockets being threaded. The bar G (seeFig. 1 and Fig. 3) is a fiat piece extending from the steering rod ofthe automobile to the center piece B. two endparts C consist of a forkedpiece with a threaded aperture in one end and two jaws with a hole ineach on the opposite end; (see Fig. 3). The two parts F consist ofcircular pieces which are held in place by screws that pass through thejaws of C and containing an aperture through which the one end of l)passes and forms a universal knuckle joint at the point C (see Fig. l).The two arms D consist of short pieces extending from where D connectswith G and term a universal knuckle joint to E, the pivot upon which thelamp frame is attached. This end of the arm D is circular and containsan aperture r through which the end of E extends and is clenched by aclench pin which extends through the head of D at 87.

E (Fig. 3) is the pivot which passes through the bracket at d Fig. 8bolted on to the automobile springs K and is clenched firmly to M by aclench pin which passes through M and E.

M is the frame which holds the automobile lamps.

H is the steering rod of the automobile.

I is the piece that is fastened on the steering rod with i J is the boltthat clamps G and l to H.

K. part of automobile spring showing the bracket Fig. 8 attachedthereto.

L. bolts which attach the bracket Fig. 8 to the automobile springs.

G is clamped firmlv to H at the middle point oi H by means of the curvein the end of G which passes over the too of H and is bolted to l bymeans of two bolts which pass through G and I and a e fastened bv locknuts (see Fig. 2 and Fig. 3). G extends The from H forward and is turnedslightly up ward and passes over the front axle of the automobile to thecenter piece B where it is bent up and is attached firmly to B by twobolts;-(see Fig. .1' and Fig. 3).

In each end of the center piece B is 'a socket S (see Fig. 7 and Fig. 3)the inside of each socket containing threads and into these sockets fitsthe ball a." on the end of the main rods A, leaving sufiicient play forA to move about in a rotary motion. After the ball end as of main rod Ais placed in the socket S (see Fig. 3) and ring t with threads on theouter side and reamed on both ends (Fig. 9) is screwed into B and fitssnugly against an leaving a space y Fig. 3 for the play of rod A whenmoved and when in place a lock nut W is placed on t and holds it firmlyin place forming what is known as a, universal ball j oint. The oppositeend of the main rod A contains threads and is screwed into an aperturein theend of C and locked by lock nut 6 (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 3. Theopposite end of G contains two jaws with an aperture in each throughwhich two screws pass and are set 'firmly in F (Fig. 1) allowing thejawsof C to move freely about these two screws from right to left andvice versa. Through F there is an aperture m through which one end of Dpasses (see Fig. 4 and Fig. 1)

and is held in place by the shoulder of D and the bolt 79 and washer nin the end of arm D (Fig. 4) forming a universal knuckle joint at c. Theopposite end of arm D is circular and contains an aperture 7* throughwhich the lower end of pivot E passes and is clenched firmly in D- byclench pin 8 (see Fig. 4 and Fig. 5). r

E passes through d the aperture in Fig. 8 and through aperture in M andis clenched firmly by clench pin in M (see Fig. 3). The

aperture d in Fig. 8 is made sufliciently large to permit E to revolvefreely from right to. left and vice versa. and two lock nuts ff arescrewed on--E just under and snugly against'the bottom of bracket shownin Fig. 8 (see Fig. 3) anda collar ring g is placed around E on the topside of said bracket in order to hold lamp in place.

The object of the combination of the arms and joints and the respectiveparts in the manner herein indicated give'absolute freedom for themachine to operateas well of the automobile. The dotted lines in Fig. 1show the relative position of the mechanism when the automobile haschanged its position in turning to" the right. 1

' I am not aware that prior to my invention any mechanism has been madeto adjust headlights on automobiles with a combination of the universalball joint and the uni-' versal knuckle joint with the rods A, barG,.cent'er .piece B and arms D connected to the pivot E, as hereinbeforedescribed.

I claim:

In combination with the frameand stering rod of anautomobile, aconnecting rod havlng one end thereof secured to the steerposite end ofthe connecting rod, saidcenter piece having a socket in each endthereof, main rods, one end of each main rod having an integral ball,said balls being positioned in the sockets of the center piece, endpieces connected to the main rods,'lamp brackets supported on the frame,and means for connecting the end pieces to the lamp bracket,

whereby movement of the steering rod produces a relative movement of thebracket.

JOHN L: CROOKER.

Witnesses:

MATTHEW BEGLAN, G. L. Burn.

ing rod, a center piece supported by the op-

